How to get visa sponsorship
Welcome to the first exclusive email for paying subscribers. Your support means a lot to me, and I'm thrilled to have the chance to help you with your immigration journey. Thanks so much!
Theses posts are private and only paying subscribers can read and comment. Please feel free to write a comment with any questions or suggestions.
I want to start today with a topic that I think is not discussed enough — getting your visa sponsored by an employer.
When we talk about "Visa Sponsorship", we are usually referring to a company extending a job offer to you and taking the responsibility to manage the work visa application on your behalf.
Most developed countries have a system where pre-authorised companies can hire overseas employees by sponsoring their visa.
I like to talk about this because I have been on both sides of the table. Two different companies gave me a chance and sponsored my visa in the past, and I have also sponsored someone else, recently.
I got my first sponsored visa in Australia when I was 21. I moved back to Brazil after a few years and lived there again for a while. When I decided I wanted to come back to Australia, I contacted several companies again and found another one that was willing to sponsor my second visa.
Fast-forward a few years, and I have recently done the opposite. I'm one of the co-founders of a wine startup in Sydney, and I have sponsored the visa of one of our employees.
1- Find companies
Not all companies want or can give visa sponsorship. You also need to find one with the right fit for your skills and values. And the timing needs to be perfect.
It is not easy as there are too many moving parts that need to align. So you need to focus on what you can control — working super hard on searching and contacting companies.
Some job websites will give you an option to filter companies willing to sponsor your visa. Angel List is a good example.
So it's great to start with those websites, for sure. But in reality, most local job websites won't give you this option.
For big companies, you can probably find this out on their website, or you can analyse the profiles of employees listed under their Linkedin company page and, ideally, get in touch with a few of them.
For smaller companies, the best way is to be unique and contact them directly. More about that below.
2- Be noticed
Once you have a list of potential companies, you should start sending your CV out, right?
Not really. First, you need to think about the teams receiving your information. Your goal is to make their life easier.
As an employer, I can say I ignore 90% of the information sent by applicants. With limited time, it's impossible to read every single external contact. When I get people emailing me about joining us, I look for signs that they worked hard on that application and that it is unique and organised enough for me to spend time analysing everything.
This will vary from company to company. For me, it means a short and interesting message over 2 or 3 paragraphs, a link to their personal website (or Linkedin profile), and their CV attached as a PDF. The info should be clean and organised.
I highly recommend contacting smaller companies, especially tech startups (even if you're not a tech professional). Most applicants ignore these companies since there's a belief that only massive companies will be able to sponsor visas. It's harder to find openings for these companies, sure, but you also get much less competition.
Sometimes a smaller company has never sponsored anyone before, and they're not thinking about it as an option. Until they meet you and listen to how excited and hungry you are to join and help them grow — backed by relevant skills and experience, of course.
One thing I always did back in the day was offering to do a test project remotely. I would always phrase it in a way that they could see I was confident my skills were valuable. And that I was ready to impress, that I only needed a chance.
Going forward with the newsletter, I will share real-world examples of emails that have worked in the past in various related scenarios.
3- Be resilient and consistent
I've said this before. You will receive lots of rejection emails, but you have to remember you only need a single "yes".
And this is where I say you need to treat the job hunting as work. You should block at least 40 minutes per day to work on your application. You will be searching and creating lists in some days and then just talking to companies in others.
Consistency is key. Do at least a little, every single day. No excuses.
You need to put yourself in a position to be "lucky" and create the perfect timing. That day where a manager in a company in your dream country has just had a poor interview with a local candidate for the third day in a row and is now excited with your email.
For my first visa sponsorship, I sent hundreds of emails until I received THE phone call. You need to adjust as you go. With every silence or rejection, you learn what employers are looking for and what's stronger on your professional profile.